About BTS

BTS began its formation in 2010 after Big Hit Entertainment CEO met with RM and was impressed with his rapping abilities. The group name stands for the Korean phrase bangtan sonyeondan which translate as Bulletproof Boy Scouts.

The group was initially supposed to be a hip hop but after more members were recruited it was decided they would have a more wholesome image. This postponed the group’s debut by two years, their actual debut came about in 2013 with the debut of their single album 2 Cool 4 Skool.

In the years following their debut they saw moderate success and launched their first tour. During a concert stop in Los Angeles, Billboard took note and said they expected to see them back for a U.S. tour.

In 2017 BTS was the first K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards. Now, in 2018, BTS is recognized internationally and plays to sold out venues all over. In March they performed at the 25th Billboard Music Awards and won the award for Top Social Artist.

Their third Korean studio Album, Love Yourself: Tear has been one of BTS’s most successful albums to date. The first BTS movie, Burn the Stage: The Movie was released was released worldwide in November 2018 and broke the record for highest grossing cinema musical production, previously set by the band One Direction.

In 2019, BTS presented at the Grammy Awards where they were in attendance for the first time ever. In April, they became the first Asian act to reach over 5 billion streams on Spotify. Following the release of their sixth EP, Map of the Soul: Persona (the lead single on the album featured singer Halsey), they became the first Korean act to perform on Saturday Night Live.

After winning two awards at the 26th Billboard Music Awards in 2019, they began another world tour which sold out huge venues in 2 hours. They performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, and The Voice.

RM (Rap Monster)

RM (Rap Monster) Bio

RM and his younger sister grew up with their parents in Ilsan-gu, South Korea. When he was young he use to watch the U.S. television show ‘Friends’ with his mother which he credits for helping him learn English.

RM was a very creative child and loved writing, he often won writing and poetry awards. He thought he would go on to purse a literary career. When he was 11, he developed an interest in hip hop and the rapper Eminem. He saw the connection between lyrics and writing and saw this as a chance to pursue a career in entertainment while still using his writing talents.

At just 13 he began auditioning for hip hop groups, even writing and recording his own album using Adobe Audition. He was fairly active in the Korean underground hip hop community under the stage name Runch Randa.

RM was extremely smart in school, he ranked in the top 1% nationally in his university entrance exams. Because of his high test scores and IQ, his parents were not supportive of his desire to pursue entertainment as they saw it as him wasting his intelligence. RM did initially go along with his parents wishes and put his musical aspirations on hold to continue school.

RM’s solo career launched in 2014, when his rap track was included on BTS’s first studio album. Through this creative endeavor, RM started a working relationship with Warren G. He would later prove instrumental to helping BTS gain such great fame in the U.S. In 2015 RM and Warren G released the single ‘P.D.D. (Please Don’t Die)’.

In 2015 RM was cast and starred in 22 episodes of the show Problematic Men. He only left to embark upon BTS’s Red Bullet world tour.

In 2017, RM was included on XXL magazine’s list of ‘10 Korean Rappers You Should Know’. His role models are Kanye West and A$AP Rocky.

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Jin

Birth Name:
Kim Seok Jin (김석진)

Stage Name:
Jin (진)

Position:
Vocalist, Visual

Birthday:
December 4, 1992

Zodiac Sign:
Sagittarius

Height:
179 cm (5’10” 1/2)

Weight:
63 kg (139 lbs)

Blood Type:
O

Jin Bio

Jin, his brother and his parents are from Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Jin was scouted by the K-Pop agency SM Entertainment when he was just in junior high, they noticed him walking down the street. At the time, Jin had acting dreams so he rejected their offer.

He couldn’t escape the entertainment industry though. He was once again recognized based off his looks walking down the street, this time by BTS agency Big Hit Entertainment. This time, he accepted the offer despite having no background in music.

His first independent song, ‘Tonight’, was released in June 2019.

Jin attended Konkuk Univeristy and graduated with his degree in art and acting on February 22, 2017. He’s currently enrolled at Hanyang Cyber University where he’s looking into his options outside of singing.

Jin enjoys playing Nintendo and cooking. His favorite foods are lobster and naengmyeon

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Suga

Birth Name:
Min Yoon Gi (민윤기)

Stage Name:
Suga (슈가)

Position:
Lead Rapper

Birthday:
March 9, 1993

Zodiac Sign:
Pisces

Height:
174 cm (5’8.5″)

Weight:
59 kg (130 lbs

Blood Type:
O

Suga Bio

Suga was born in Daegu, South Korea and is the youngest in his family of two. He was interested in rap from a young age, citing the song ‘Reggae Muffin’ as the one that truly caught his interest.

At 13 he began using MIDI to write lyrics and compose songs. He was known in the underground rap community under the name Gloss and he worked in a record studio at the age of 17.

Before making his debut with BTS, he had originally signed with Big Hit Entertainment as a producer. In 2016 his first solo album was released on Soundcloud for free instead of as a studio album, this was because he felt trapped by commercialism and wanted to be known for his artistry. He also shared his struggles with depression and has been an advocate for mental health and LGBTQ+ equality.

Suga enjoys photography and speaks with a satori accent when he’s nervous.

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J-Hope

Birth Name:
Jung Ho Seok (정호석)

Stage Name:
J-Hope (제이홉)

Position:
Main Dancer, Rapper, Sub Vocalist

Birthday:
February 18, 1994

Zodiac Sign:
Aquarius

Height:
177 cm (5’10”)

Weight:
65 kg (143 lbs)

Blood Type:
A

J-Hope Bio

J-Hope was born and lived with his parents and older sister in Gwangju, South Korea. He was a skilled dancer from a young age as he took lessons at Gwangju Music Academy and joined an underground dance team in Neuron.

He was the third member to join BTS and has contributed creatively to the group’s albums since their first studio release.

His solo debuted in March 2018 at number 68, peaking at number 38 on the Billboard charts. This made him the first Korean to reach such a high ranking as a solo artist.

More recently, J-Hope collaborated with band mate V and Zara Larsson for BTS’s new mobile game. ‘BTS World’. He also made a significant donation to Child Fund Korea in support of students attending his old high school in Gwangju.

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Jimin

Birth Name:
Park Ji Min (박지민)

Stage Name:
Jimin (지민)

Position:
Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist

Birthday:
October 13, 1995

Zodiac Sign:
Libra

Height:
173.6cm (5’8.3″)

Weight:
61 kg (134 lbs)

Blood Type:
A

Jimin Bio

Jimin was born in Geumjeong District, Busan, South Korea. As a middle school student, he attended Just Dance academy and learned how to pop and lock. He also studied contemporary dance and was a high achieving student at Busan High School of Arts.

It was based on a suggestion from one of his dance teachers that he audition with an agency and became a member of BTS. Jimin’s solo tracks for BTS, ‘Lie’, and ‘Serendipity’ both surpassed 50 million streams on Spotify.

Jimin wrote the lyrics for and collaborated on solo efforts with Jungkook for ‘Christmas Day’. The two later recorded a cover of ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’.

Jimin has been active in his efforts to support school children since seeing such success with BTS. He’s donated school uniforms to his alma mater and made monetary donations to help students of low income families.

Jimin’s favorite food is kimchi jjigae and he’s known for his fantastic abs!

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V

Birth Name:
Kim Tae Hyung (김태형)

Stage Name:
V (뷔)

Position:
Lead Dancer, Vocalist, Visual

Birthday:
December 30, 1995

Zodiac Sign:
Capricorn

Height:
178 cm (5’10″)

Weight:
62 kg (137 lbs)

Blood Type:
AB

V Bio

V is the oldest in a family of three children, born in Daegu, South Korea but raised in Geochang County. His dreams of being a singer started from a young age, when he was in elementary school. He began singing and playing saxophone. Eventually he was enrolled and graduated from the Korea Arts High School.

V auditioned with Big Hit Entertainment and became a trainee, eventually joining BTS. He began contributing to the group’s hits by co-writing and co-producing their third extended play, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1. Since then he’s contributed lyrics and musical composition to many other songs like ‘Run’, ‘Fun Boyz’ and ‘Stigma’.

In 2016 V made his acting debut in the historical drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth. He also contributed a song collaboration with his band mate Jin for the movie’s soundtrack.

V achieved fame in his solo career with his second single, ‘Singularity’ in 2018. The song debuted on UK radio and made it onto The Guardian’s list of top 50 songs for June 2018. It was also ranked in the U.S. when The New York Times put it on their list of ‘The 65 Best Songs of 2018’.

It was V’s phrase ‘I purple you’ that gained popularity with BTS fans and has become something of a symbol for the group. UNICEF even used the phrase for an anti-bullying campaign.

V’s favorite food is Japchae but his band mate’s all agree that he is a terrible cook!

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Jungkook

Birth Name:
Jeon Jeong-guk (전정국)

Stage Name:
Jungkook (정국)

Position:
Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Sub Rapper, Center, Maknae

Birthday:
September 1, 1997

Zodiac Sign:
Virgo

Height:
178 cm (5’10”)

Weight:
66 kg (145 lbs)

Blood Type:
A

Jungkook Bio

Junkook was born and raised with his brother in Busan, South Korea. He became a trainee in middle school and his family moved to Seoul. He became interested in being a singer after seeing G-Dragon from Bigbang perform on TV.

In 2011 Junkook auditioned for the show Superstar K. He wasn’t selected on the show but he received other casting offers as a result of his appearance, including one from Big Hit Entertainment. He was inspired to audition for BTS after being introduced to fellow band mate RM.